Morning Star (Zervis)
by sickthrowaway
Summary: When Zeref awakes outside Magnolia with no recollection of his past life, he is stumbled upon by Mavis Vermilion, who invites him to join her guild. Although Zeref doubts himself, and is unsure of whether he deserves to live for a second time, Mavis shows him that any life can become meaningful if you live it for someone else. (Zervis, Zeref x Mavis)


**Author's Note: Hello everyone! Today, I'll be bringing you all a fic on a very underrated and under-represented pairing, Zervis (Zeref x Mavis.) Before anyone gets the idea "But Mavis is only 13 (in this fic she's 14)! Zeref is a lolicon!", Zeref is about 16 in this fic (with anime and manga it's hard to tell how old people are so I just figure Zeref is a teenager as well). It follows the storyline of Fairy Tail Zero, if any of you have been reading that, but it's sort of a flash forward about a year later. If you have any questions or comments about the story or anything else you'd like to ask me, feel free to leave a review or send me a PM. If you enjoy the first chapter, leave a follow and a fav, and I'll be sure to keep writing. Have a great day/night!**

**Chapter 1: Darkness Meets Light**

Mavis skipped merrily along the trail that wound through the dense forest on the edge of Magnolia humming a tune to herself.

"Fai-ry Ta-il. Fai-ry Ta-il!" she said in a singsong voice as she picked a daisy from the earth and brought it to her nose to sniff it's fragrant scent.

Mavis and her friends Warrod, Precht and Yury have begun their new guild Fairy Tail, in the hope that one day it will grow to be the largest and strongest in all of Fiore. They hadn't found any members they had found worthy of recruiting yet, but that didn't bother Mavis in the slightest. Whether her family was big or small, their bonds would remain the same.

Continuing to skip down the trail, she came across a young man that couldn't have been too much older than she was. He wore an odd outfit, it looked like he had draped a bedsheet over his black clothing, and his short dark hair was unkempt, but had one strand sticking out unnaturally, just like hers. The man was asleep, passed out cold as he leant against an oak tree, the birds on the branch above him chirping noisily.

"Well, I suppose it's as good of a day for a nap as any." Mavis said to herself as she took a seat next to the sleeping man on the ground. Mavis didn't want to impose on the slumbering man, especially not when he looked so peaceful, so she simply sat near him and watched him as he slept.

_I can't recall ever seeing him around Magnolia…_ Mavis thought to herself. _Maybe he's a traveler? No, he doesn't have that air about him, the smell of adventure. I wonder if he's lost._

Even though they had just met and Mavis did not know much about the young man, she was oddly drawn to him, like a moth to a flame. She wanted to wake him up and ask him about a million questions, but she knew that was very rude and wouldn't make for a good conversation starter.

Looking at the young man closer, she noticed that he wasn't wearing shoes as his feet were dirty and battered, probably from walking a long distance. While his clothes were in fairly good condition, she wondered when the last time he had had a good bath.

_I should go find him some shoes, or somewhere to sleep at the very least_. Mavis thought to herself.

Stirring in his sleep, the young man grumbled to himself as his eyes began to flutter open and inspect his surroundings. His eyes were a pretty shade of dark grey, similar to that of storm clouds, and he wore a confused expression on his face. Turning around and meeting her gaze, he instinctively scampered back a few feet, a fearful expression on his face.

"Wait, I'm not going to hurt you!" Mavis shouted, approaching him carefully as he continued to back away like a scared animal.

"Please, just… don't come any closer!" the young man shouted, his back hitting another tree as Mavis continued to advance. Getting down to her knees, she looked him in the eyes and put her hand out to touch him reassuringly on the knee.

"Don't be scared. My name is Mavis, what's yours?" she said sweetly, her tone innocent as can be. Reluctantly but slowly, the man's muscles released their tension as he realised her intentions were pure.

"It's…" he said, stopping himself before he said anything more.

_I can't even remember my own name…_ the man thought.

"It's, uh… I think it's… Zeref?" he said, uncertain of his own words.

"Zeref... but, you can't be _the_ Zeref, right? The most evil wizard that ever lived, died hundreds of years ago?" Mavis said in shock, removing her hand from his knee.

"I can't remember anything about the past… just my name. Was I… a bad man?" Zeref asked her in a sad tone.

Mavis couldn't comprehend what was going on. If he was who he says he was, then he shouldn't even be alive right now. Here she was, face-to-face with a man who terrorised the world for years and was considered the root of evil in Earthland, and he was uncharacteristically shy and docile.

"You don't remember anything? Not even how you got here?" she questioned, and he shook his head.

"The first thing I remembered was seeing your face when I woke up, and my name. If I'm as bad as you say I am, just… leave me alone." he said, burying his head in his lap.

"Zeref… I can't leave you alone, not like this. Come on." Mavis said, offering her hand to him and getting to her feet.

Zeref looked at her tiny hand reluctantly, as if he wanted to take it but he felt he didn't deserve to. With a pout on her face, her cuteness eventually won him over as he accepted her hand and got to his feet. Leading him back down the trail she came from, Mavis hurried him along as he struggled to maintain her quick pace.

"Where are we going?" he asked her.

"My guild. I can't let someone like you sleep outside, you're too nice." Mavis replied cheerily.

"Listen, Mavis… I appreciate everything you're trying to do for me, but as you tell me, I was the most evil wizard to ever live some hundred years ago. I don't think it's really alright for me to just come up and mingle with society." Zeref said, stopping her.

Thinking for a moment, Mavis replied,

"I suppose you're right in that regard, Zeref. Maybe we should give you a new name, at least for the time being. Let's see… how about Kurai?" Mavis suggested.

"'Dark?' That definitely sounds inconspicuous." Zeref replied sarcastically.

"Well, if you have any better ideas feel free to let me know." Mavis said, throwing her hands up.

"Hmm… you know what, that's fine actually. It's growing on me." Zeref admitted.

"Great! I'm still going to call you Z, but to others, you'll be known as Kurai. Now, it might be a good idea to figure out what type of magic you can use." Mavis said, looking up at him.

"Magic…" Zeref whispered to himself as he looked down at his hands.

"You can use magic, right?" Mavis asked.

"Of course I can! It's just… I don't really remember how." Zeref replied sadly, looking down at the ground.

Taking his hand in both her own, Mavis said,

"Don't worry, Zeref, I'll help you remember. For now, let's just head back to my guild, okay?" she said warmly, as Zeref returned her smile and nodded.

Escorting her new friend out of the forest, Mavis happily led him through the winding streets of Magnolia as Zeref awed at the lively town.

"This is amazing." Zeref said, and Mavis nodded in reply.

"How big is your guild?" Zeref asked her.

"Five people, including myself. We haven't recruited any members yet, so you might be our first!" she squealed.

"Uh, yeah, for sure. Hey, Mavis?" Zeref questioned.

"What is it?" she replied, looking up at him.

"Why are you being so nice to me? Why didn't you run away the moment you found out who I was?" Zeref asked her.

"Because… because you had such pretty eyes. Those aren't the eyes of an evil wizard to me. Besides, you were nice to me too." she stated, flashing her smile at him.

Zeref's face went red as a tomato at her compliment, and he tried to look off into the other direction to hide his reaction.

"Z, what's wrong?" Mavis asked him.

"N- Nothing! I just… can't remember anybody ever saying something so nice about me, that's all." he replied honestly.

"That's sad, I think you're a really nice man. Come on, we're almost home." she exclaimed, leading him on by his hand.

_Now that I think about it, she's pretty cute…_ Zeref thought to himself. _She can't be much younger than me. Then again, I have no idea how old I even am in the first place. Something tells me I'm about sixteen? Maybe that's just a rough estimate._

Zeref had been so caught up in his own thoughts, he hadn't even noticed Mavis leading him inside of a small wooden building that looked as though it was recently renovated. An odd insignia was hung outside the building, and the sign above it read "Fairy Tail".

"Warrod! Precht! Yury! Zeira! I brought a friend!" Mavis called into the seemingly empty hall as a group of men and a girl that looked to be the same age as Mavis appeared and approached the two.

"Oh, a new recruit?" a man with an eye patch said, looking Zeref up and down and noticing his lack of shoes.

"Mavis, you haven't been recruiting the homeless again, have you?" he asked.

"He is not homeless, Precht! He's just a little down on his luck, and I thought he would make a good member to our family." Mavis protested.

"What's your name, kid?" the tallest man asked him.

"Kurai. Nice to meet you." Zeref said politely.

"Likewise. The name's Warrod, the guy that looks like a pirate is Precht, and the blondie is Yury." the man named Warrod said.

"Warrod, aren't you forgetting someone?" Mavis nagged.

"Oh, yeah… and this is Zeira." Warrod said, scratching the back of his head, pointing to the black haired girl next to him.

"Nice to meet you all." Zeref said, bowing.

"For a homeless guy, you have some nice manners." Yury said with a hearty laugh. "So, what makes you think you're cut out for Fairy Tail?" he asked.

"I, uh…" Zeref began, but Mavis spoke in his place.

"Kurai happens to be a very powerful mage, and I wouldn't have anyone else as a recruit." Mavis said with a factual tone.

"Oh ho ho, is that so? Care to demonstrate your magical prowess for us, kid?" Yury suggested, getting up in Zeref's face.

"He definitely will, won't you?" Mavis said, looking up at him with hopeful emerald eyes.

"I… I suppose." Zeref reluctantly said.

"Splendid, let's go." Yury said, gesturing for everyone to come outside.

"Wait, you mean now?!" Zeref asked, startled at Yury's impatience.

"Well, I'm not getting any younger, and I have other things to do today. Are you coming or not?" Yury asked him.

"Yeah, sure." Zeref replied, following the group out of the guild hall and out into the grassy field behind the building.

"Since we don't have an idea of what kind of magic you use, just use any spell you find appropriate on this field here." Precht said, taking a step back with the others and giving Zeref room to work.

Shooting a nervous glance to Mavis, she smiled warmly at him and gave him a thumbs up.

_Okay, okay, what magic do I even use? Everyone's eyes are on me, and I have no idea what I'm about to do,_ Zeref thought frantically.

Holding his hand out in front of him, he willed something, _anything_ to happen. Unaware of what he was even doing, a series of magic circles appeared on the grass in front of him as he shouted from seemingly nowhere:

_Curse: Bakudan!_

The magic circles glowed red for a moment before exploding in a huge radius, shaking the ground like an earthquake and sending a gigantic cloud of dust in all directions. The wind from the explosion blew the debris and dust all over the field, and all of Fairy Tail were hacking and coughing moments after.

As the smoke cleared, Zeref fell to his knees and propped himself up with his arms as he sweated bullets onto the rough earth. He felt very faint and thought he might pass out any minute, until Mavis pulled him back into reality as she helped him to his feet.

"That was amazing, Z! I knew you could do it!" she said happily, praising his achievement.

"Glad… you think so…" he panted, trying to catch his breath.

"That was certainly something, Kurai. Mavis has an eye for people like you." Zeira commented.

"People like me?" Zeref asked.

"Oddballs, the homeless, you know. Anybody that stands out." she replied with a smirk.

"Thank you?" Zeref said, unsure of whether he was being bashed or complimented.

"At any rate, you definitely show quite a bit of talent, Kurai. Might I ask where you learned this Curse Magic? It's unlike anything I've ever seen before." Precht questioned.

"I… I invented it. I think." Zeref replied, shuffling his feet and twiddling his thumbs.

"Invented it?!" the group gasped in unison.

"You must teach me about it later, son! However, that's not a pressing matter. This young man has Mavis' seal of approval already, and I think he would make a great addition to our family. What do you all say?" Precht said, looking over to his friends.

"He's good in my eyes." Warrod stated.

"Indeed, he is a strong one. He has my vote." Zeira agreed.

"Well, it certainly wouldn't hurt us having a powerhouse like him. I say yes." Yury said.

"Then it's settled! Kurai, welcome to Fairy Tail!" Precht cheered.

Re-entering his new guild, Zeref was led over to a bar area where he took a seat next to Mavis on a stool.

"So, Kurai, where would you like your guild mark and in what colour?" Zeira asked, procuring the guild stamp from behind the wooden counter.

"Eh… well…" he said, his voice trailing off as he looked back over at Mavis, whose guild mark was apparently hidden somewhere under her clothing. Looking at her emerald eyes, he was inspired by the deep green pools that had no irises as he looked back at Zeira and replied,

"Green, please. And on my chest."

"Oh, green. That's a first. Well, take your shirt off then." Zeira said, and he complied and removed his black cloak and undershirt. For a hungry traveler, Zeref himself was surprised how muscular he was, and apparently Mavis and Zeira had a similar reaction. Zeira's hand shakily held the stamp over his right side of his torso as he grabbed her hand and said,

"No, the other side. Over my heart."

"Some special meaning to that location?" Zeira asked him slyly, and he just shrugged his shoulders. Placing the stamp over his heart, she pressed it down and left him with his new guild mark as he put his clothes back on.

"Now that that's all situated, what will we do about your living situation?" Yury asked him.

"I'm sorry, I don't have any money." Zeref replied, turning out his pockets.

"There has to be another room here at the guild hall." Warrod said.

"What about the attic?" Zeira suggested.

"I won't have my friend sleeping in a dusty old attic." Mavis protested.

"Do you have any better ideas?" Precht asked her.

"He can stay with Zeira and I! Our house has enough room." Mavis exclaimed.

"I'm not sure how I feel about that." Precht said.

"You just met the guy, Mavis, maybe you shouldn't be acting so friendly." Yury chimed in.

"Kurai is my friend, and he wouldn't hurt me for any reason! Right?" Mavis shouted, looking over at him.

"Yes, of course not. Accepting me into your guild is more than enough, to betray your trust would be unforgivable." Zeref said truthfully.

"See? He cares about me." Mavis stated.

Frowning, Yury pulled the two other men into a huddle as they chatted furiously amongst themselves. After a minute, they broke their huddle and Yury announced,

"Until Kurai is able to pay for his own living space, we have agreed it's okay just for a short while."

"Yay! Did you hear that, Kurai?! Sleepover!" Mavis squealed, jumping up and down.

"Try to do anything indecent or hurt them in any way and I'll personally castrate you, buddy." Yury said, grabbing him by his shirt.

"Y- You have my word…" Zeref replied nervously.

Releasing his shirt and signalling for the other two adults to follow him, Yury left the guild hall. Now that the three teenagers were left alone, Zeira spoke up and asked,

"Soooo, what do you guys wanna do now?"

"I know, I know! Let's take Ze- I mean, Kurai shopping!" Mavis suggested, almost revealing his identity to the other young woman.

"But I don't have any mo-" he began, but Mavis wasn't having it.

"Don't worry about it. You need new clothes and some shoes anyway, you look like a hobbit running around barefoot." Mavis said.

"If you say so." Zeref said, trying to sound indifferent but secretly excited. He was getting sick of walking around barefoot, and he hadn't noticed until now but Mavis also wore no shoes.

"Mavis, why don't you wear shoes?" he asked her.

"Oh, well, I suppose it's just a habit. I grew up not wearing shoes, so I guess it just stuck with me." she replied.

"Is that right? Well, we should probably get going before it gets dark." he said, and Mavis and Zeira nodded in reply as they all departed the guild hall together.

The rest of their day was spent shopping until they quite literally dropped. Zeira had gotten so sleepy towards the end of the evening that she has fallen asleep on Zeref's back while he carried her home, followed closely by Mavis, who had managed to stay awake.

"I had a good time with you today, Z." Mavis said warmly, swinging their numerous bags back and forth while she walked.

"Likewise, I can't remember the last time I had that much fun." Zeref replied.

"Well, you can't remember anything else anyways, so I guess that wouldn't matter. Still, I'm glad I found you earlier today. You aren't a bad man at all, by the way." Mavis said.

"Thanks Mavis, I'm really glad I met you too. I don't know where I might be right now if you hadn't found me." Zeref said happily, eyeing the young girl.

"About earlier today, did you really invent that magic?" Mavis asked him.

"I believe so, most of my memories are hazy but I have a gut feeling that it's original magic." he replied.

"It's super cool, you should teach me some time." Mavis suggested.

"Yeah, I'll think about it…" Zeref said, although he intended to never teach anything of that sort to her. Something told him that nobody else should be using magic like that, and the last thing he wanted was for Mavis to get hurt.

"You know, the two of you look a lot like siblings, especially with you carrying her home on your back like a child." Mavis pointed out.

"You think so?" Zeref questioned.

"Z, did you ever have a sister?" Mavis asked him.

_Man, so many questions,_ Zeref thought.

"I don't believe so, but it's not like I would remember anyways." he replied.

"Do you remember what your parents were like?" she asked, bombarding him with more questions.

"Can't say I do. The way you described me, you'd think I was the spawn of the devil." Zeref said with a chuckle.

"Don't think something ridiculous like that. Spawn of the devil aren't nearly as nice to be around as you are." Mavis said cheerily.

"I'll take that as a compliment. Is that your house up there?" Zeref questioned, his gaze falling on a tiny two story home at the edge of town.

"Yeah, wow, we sure got home fast. Come on!" Mavis said, running ahead eagerly as Zeref struggled to keep pace.

Unlocking the door and leading him inside, Mavis took Zeira off his hands as she told him to wait there while she put Zeira to bed. Looking around the small house, Zeref took in all the pretty and ornate decorations the two girls had coated their walls in. Framed photos of Fairy Tail before he had joined adorned her side table, and the walls were covered in all sorts of souvenirs and artifacts of which Zeref had no clue of their origin.

"Well, Zeira is in bed. What would you like for dinner, Zeref?" Mavis asked him, descending the stairs and landing gracefully at the bottom.

"You can cook?" he asked with a surprised look on his face.

"Did you think I was entirely useless?" Mavis pouted.

"No, I think it's great you can cook. You just keep getting better and better." he said warmly, as Mavis went slightly red in the face and exited the room to begin preparing the food in the kitchen.

_What is this feeling? Why did I get so excited when he complimented me?_ Mavis thought as she shakily stirred the soup she was preparing with a wooden spoon. _My heart goes doki-doki whenever he smiles at me…_

"Hey, Mavis? Your croquettes are on fire." Zeref pointed out as she shrieked and removed them from the stove and poured water all over them.

"Ohh, I ruined the croquettes." Mavis whined, her feathery ear ornaments comically drooping like a sad dog.

"It's fine, don't worry about it. I'm sure your soup will more than make up for it." Zeref said, putting a hand on her shoulder as she shivered at his touch and squealed, panicking and tossing the pot of soup over her shoulder in a knee jerk reaction and splattering the contents of the meal all over the floor.

"Oh no… not the soup too." Mavis whimpered, tears coming to her eyes as she began to bawl.

"Mavis, please don't cry. I can fix this, see?" Zeref said, holding out his palm and uttering the words,

_Curse: Kako!_

as the contents of the pot began to glow and move backwards in time into the pot, which flew back onto the stove in the same position and state as moments ago.

Gasping in surprise, she jumped out and hugged Zeref tightly, tears of joy streaming down her face.

"Thank you so much, Zeref! You've been such a big help to me today, I thought I should repay you by making you dinner, but I messed even that up." Mavis said sadly. Putting his hand on her head affectionately as he ruffled her hair, she looked up at Zeref who didn't look bothered or disappointed in the least.

"I should be the one thanking you, Mavis. You took me in knowing fully well who I was, and I can't be any more grateful for your kindness. Let me help you cook this time around, okay?" he asked, as she wiped away her tears and nodded.

Returning to the pot, the pair got to work on properly cooking the soup as Zeira looked on in surprise.

_Teary-eyed hugs? Cooking together? The HEIGHT DIFFERENCE?! KYAAAA!_ Zeira screamed internally. _So cute!_

Sneaking back up to her room to be alone with her headcanons, Zeira left the two to themselves as they continued cooking with each other.

**A short while later...**

After the two had thoroughly stuffed themselves, they waddled upstairs to finally go to bed.

"You can get changed downstairs, Zeref…" Mavis said sleepily as she stumbled into her and Zeira's room to get changed.

"Right." Zeref replied as he did just that. Getting changed into his new pajamas, he ascended the stairs again, only to find Mavis sitting out in the hallway with a pout on her face.

"What's the matter, Mavis?" he asked her.

"Zeira locked me out of our room." she mumbled.

"Looks like you and Zerry will have to share tonight!" Zeira teased through the door.

"My name is Ku-" he started, but Zeira cut him off.

"Don't even give me that crap. I don't care what your real name is, just go sleep with my friend already." Zeira interrupted as both of them went red as a tomato.

"A-A- Absolutely not!" Zeref stammered.

"Either share the futon or sleep on the floor. My shipper heart can't take much more of this, so hurry up!" Zeira called, turning off the light in her room and leaving the two with an awkward silence.

"I'll… just take the floor then." Zeref said, trying not to make eye contact with the young blonde as he descended the stairs and curled up on the carpet. Mavis didn't protest, and instead brought the futon downstairs into the other room.

"I'll just be in here if you need me." Mavis squeaked, turning off the last light in the house.

An hour passed, and Zeref was literally freezing his balls off. It made no sense that it would feel like the inside of a fridge inside of her house in the summertime, and then he was hit with the realisation that Zeira must have turned down the thermostat.

_She really is the Devil,_ Zeref thought to himself.

Resolving to just suck it up and deal with being cold for one night, he rubbed his hands together and tried his hardest to stay warm.

"Zeref…?" he heard Mavis call from the other room.

"Yes? Why are you still awake?" Zeref replied.

"I'm scared of sleeping alone. Will you come… sleep next to me?" she called nervously.

_Okay, listen up, self. This is where you must draw the line, otherwise you might end up castrated tomorrow morning. But God damn it, I'm freezing and she's scared! This is the time to be a man! _Zeref thought.

"Well, I suppose it's alright just this once." Zeref replied, getting up and entering the room Mavis was sleeping in. Pulling her blanket back to allow him room, Zeref crawled into the futon and settled himself as far as possible from Mavis inside of the tiny cocoon of blankets.

"Zeref, I'm still cold…" Mavis whined, and Zeref sighed and scooted close enough so that their bodies were pressed against each other.

"Better?" he whispered.

"Much better." she mumbled, nodding off almost instantly.

Although he was still reluctant to get close to the young girl, he couldn't deny it was marvellous compared to sleeping alone on the chilly carpet. Putting his arm around her sleeping frame, he snuggled into the pillow and felt his own eyelids growing heavy.

_It sure beats sleeping outside…_ Zeref thought as he drifted off to a peaceful slumber.


End file.
